"I told you I'd leave you the next time! Did you hear me? I'd leave! We've been through this, it's like you don't even hear me!"
"I told you I was with my friends!"
"HAH! Like anyone would ever want to be friends with you!" *SMACK*
"Never insult me like that EVER. AGAIN."
Stephenie cringed. She could hear Momma sobbing while her father said," And Barb, you don't have anywhere else to go. You couldn't even make any money walking the corner. Nobody wants you. I'm all you have." Stephenie could just imagine her father's face, filled with power-driven rage. She could see his smirk that said, "I'm the king and nothing, no one will bring me from my throne." He'd be leaning over her mother, telling her what he would do if she decided to stick to her word and leave for good.
What would he do if she did have the courage to leave? It couldn't be worse than what he was doing now, could it? No, she thought, nothing could be worse than what he's doing or what he's done.
She looked around the room at everything he'd demolished over the years. There was the first place swimming metal, when she came home spitting mad because neither of her parents showed up to watch, not that Stephenie cared her dad didn't go. He'd just make a scene anyway. She stormed through the door ready to set off about how she told them about her swim meet months ago, when she spotted Momma.
"Momma," Stephenie rushed over to her mother" Why do you let him control you like this? you have so many people who love you, you dont need him." She grabbed the cold pack from the freezer and placed it on the hand-shaped bruise that was starting to set on the side of Momma's face.
As the memory faded another took it's place. The night she spoke her first words, naturally a memorable event. Stephenie was lying in her crib, placed in the kitchen so Momma could watch her while she made a special dinner for Stephenie's father's birthday. Momma was cutting some carrots when Remone tried to sneak a piece away. Momma didn't notice and the knife came down, seconds away from cutting her husbands fingers from the knuckle down.
Everything happened so fast, Momma was on the floor while Remone pushed her down, knife in hand.
"What do you think you're doing? Don't pretend I don't know what you're trying to pull! I DO!!! It's not going to work, I'm smarter than you Barbra, i know you're trying to get rid of me but it Won't. Work." He spoke with insanity in his eyes. There was nothing he wouldn't do to show he had power over everyone, no matter the consequences, Barb knew that. She tried to speak while Remone was holding the knife at her throat.
"I would never do anything to hurt you, I love you. I'd never leave you, there would be no life to live without you" momma's face deceived her, her frightened eyes told Remone her words were just sweet nothings.
"Why do you keep lying to me? If I really mean that much to you why do you keep disappointing me? Don't you know what I can do?" He lifted the blade, slowly starting along the her front of her throat, creating blood tears that began to trickle down her neck, similar to the watery ones racing down her pale, frightened face.
At this point Stephenie, at the age of 2 years and 1 month, came out of her trance and screamed, at the top of her little lungs, "STOP Daddy! Stop it! You're hurting Momma!"
